The JOURNEY To The CAPITAL

The Red Note Discovery

Chai appeared, sitting on the chair in his office, listening to calm music released in the year 2168. He was holding an ink pen and solving math problems in his red notebook—the notebook that had never left his side. He was writing and solving problems, but he was sweating and writing illegible words, unusually pressing the pen. Suddenly, he heard the sound of knocking on the door.

Chai: Who's there?

The Crow: Sir, the Crow is here and wants to enter.

Chai: Let him in.

Chai: Welcome, Crow. For your information, I haven't heard any good news in days.

The Crow: Sir, everyone in the square is sedated. We left ten people in the reserve hall just in case of an emergency.

Chai: How many?

The Crow: We have 2,300 people in barrels beneath the isolated area. Half of them, 1,150, are in the square as per the orders, sir.

Chai: What time is it now?

The Crow: Sir, it's 6:15.

Chai: Then let's go.

The two of them headed to a place that no one could enter. Only two people had access: Chai and the institute's director. The massive door lock required an eye scan, a voiceprint, and a fingerprint before entry. Before entering, Chai told the Crow: Your mission now is to supervise Team FOX; they are doing well. Here's this device—I've granted you access.

The Crow was ecstatic. Team FOX consisted of 840 people, making him the leader of the largest team in the institute. He took the control device, which allowed him to direct the team and track the location and task of each member individually.

Then the Crow went to the designated monitoring point and began directing Team FOX using the device.

Meanwhile, Chai felt anxious and guilty. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but he wasn't ready to risk his life. He entered a maze with no exit. In the hall, there was only a giant screen and a chair. He sat in the chair and turned on the television; a countdown appeared. He waited for the timer to end. The hour of reckoning was near. Finally, the suffering would end. They had promised him that if the experiment succeeded, he would be allowed to leave unharmed—only the success of the experiment mattered.

In one of the corridors, Julia appeared, drenched in sweat. He tried to enter and break the glass barrels but was surprised by doors unlike the ones before. Everything had changed; all entrances were secured. Meanwhile, Mann was sneaking through the rooms and alleys. The Crow was watching his movements and smiling, knowing he was in the wrong place and could do nothing.

One of the people at the monitoring point said: Sir, shall we take him out?

The Crow replied, laughing: Do you know how a spider hunts its prey? Watch and learn.

He grabbed the control device and directed 40 FOX members. The terrifying truth was that Julian was trapped. There was no exit. That area was like a shifting maze, as if he were solving a puzzle with no solution. Madness began to creep in.

While in this miserable state, three FOX members appeared before him, holding red weapons and wearing strange glasses that made their eyes glow red. Without warning, they fired at Julian. He fled backward, then turned to the right. The bullet missed him but managed to damage a part of the wall.

He tried to escape, noticing that some doors closed while others opened, and FOX members appeared everywhere. He kept running; the bullets rained behind him like heavy rain. Julian began to think it was the end—he had to stop.

His phone rang while running. Kyla said: Julian, where are you?

Julian: I'm in a trap. There's no exit. I'm in a maze and I don't know where the exit is. There's an army behind me. Stay away from them, then they appear in front of me again.

Shon, who was listening, asked: Are there security cameras?

Julian: They're everywhere. Try to destroy every camera you see.

The cameras were placed very high; he couldn't reach them.

Marcus: You need to get a weapon, man.

Julian: I don't see any store here that sells weapons.

Kyla: Focus, please. This is not the time for jokes.

Julian shouted: Kyla, I've never met anyone like you in my life. I want you to learn, if I don't make it—I love you.

Kyla: You have to survive. You must return; otherwise, I'll never forgive you.

The phone went dead. While running, two FOX members appeared and fired at him. But he slid beneath them, pulled out a small knife, stabbed the first member in the chest until he exploded, grabbed his gun, and shot the second member, dropping him to the ground.

The shock was—they weren't human; they were advanced robots. The Crow, behind the screen, couldn't believe his eyes. He assigned half the team to capture Julian.

But Julian understood the game. He left no camera intact, destroying them all, which forced the Crow to open all doors to locate him. Julian managed to escape the maze and fled from a torrent of running robots, but he evaded them.

While running past Chai's office, he smashed the cameras in the corridor, went back inside, and found nothing but the red notebook, knowing it belonged to Chai. He took it with him and rushed to the garden, waited a bit to ensure no one was watching, then descended into the tunnel.